Ashburnham board rejects plan to join Westminster senior center

ASHBURNHAM -- The Board of Selectmen has voted against regionalizing the town's senior center with the facility used by the town of Westminster.

"The town administrator made an excellent presentation on it and it looked like a good move, but we were inundated with seniors who didn't want it," board Chairman Leo Janssens said Tuesday.

Janssens said the majority of the audience for Monday's meeting were local seniors in opposition to the idea of regionalization, several of whom spoke against the plan.

"We heard the people and we acted upon what they wanted," he said.

According to Town Administrator Heather Budrewicz, regionalizing with Westminster would have resulted in an annual costs savings of roughly $5,000 and would have freed up the current space at Ashburnham Town Hall used by the Council on Aging for other purposes.

She explained in an email from Monday night that she had already spoken with local residents about the possibility of working with Westminster.

"Through these discussions it has become unmistakably apparent that there is great concern and need for attention to community engagement in Ashburnham," Budrewicz wrote.

She also referenced a study conducted by the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission that outlined some of the benefits of moving senior services to Westminster.

According to the study, Ashburnam's current center, located on the second floor of Town Hall, is not easily accessible by individuals with mobility issues.

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Visitors have to pass through four doorways, without automatic handicap accessible openers, to get to the center, which is also on a different floor from bathroom facilities.

The study also showed that Westminster's center offers more unique activities and already attracts a number of Ashburnham residents. According to a survey of center visitors, Westminster already receives an average of 10 to 20 Ashburnham residents per month. Comparatively, Ashburnham's center only has seven to nine visitors on any given day.

While moving services to Westminster would have meant a $5,000 savings to Ashburnham's annual Council on Aging budget, the town would still have been responsible for some of the operating costs at the neighboring facility, including the salary for a new assistant position and an additional phone line.

Had the selectmen voted in favor of regionalization, Budrewicz said MART service could have been made available to the Westminster Senior Center from Ashburnham Town hall or from the homes of Ashburnham residents.

Moving forward, Budrewicz said the town will be working to improve accessibility by installing push-button automatic doors at Town Hall. She also said the town will need to pay more attention to the numbers or residents who are actually taking advantage of senior center programs and resources, which Janssens said would help the town in applying for grant funding.

"It's something that seems so trivial, but it does have a big impact," he said. "The more people we can show that use it, the better our chances will be of receiving grants."

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